The Hartly, DE Investigation

By Shawn Hank

My first investigation with Delaware Paranormal Research Group occurred at a residence in Hartly, Delaware in February, 2015. I came with a flashlight and digital camera.  I arrived half an hour early, and spoke with both homeowners.  The husband, a skeptic, did have a few interesting stories to tell. Some of his experiences included having heard a piano playing three notes in rapid succession. And after an initial investigation, the couple found that the drawers of a dresser were pulled out barring their entrance into their infant son’s bedroom.  When they finally got into the room they found the boy  tightly wrapped in a receiving blanket.

My first investigation proceeded without influence from the homeowner’s perceptions. My approach was to take photographs randomly during certain questions that were asked or repeated; and to observe, which is quite familiar to me because I have a degree in Chemistry; and I am working on a Master’s in Accounting.

The Investigation Begins

The members included Robin, Gene and myself. We started upstairs in the “Man Cave” and art studio. Gene monitored and recorded temperatures. Robin asked the questions. I took pictures with my new digital camera. The second room was a storage room across from the baby’s room. Nothing out of the ordinary occurred, although Robin’s dowsing rods  appeared to cross several times in response to Robin’s requests. The third room was the daughter’s room. Robin continued using the rods, and was getting responses to some of the questions she asked by prompting the rods to be crossed. It is in this room where I experienced a brush on my pant leg.

The investigation continued to the living room and furnace area. Robin was filming at this point. Gene continued monitoring temperatures. Nothing out of the ordinary seemed to occur until Robin was near the furnace. She started receiving EMF readings from one particular wooden post and no readings from the other posts. It was around this time frame where the digital camera I used captured what looks like a mist taking some sort of form. The mist was not present in any other photograph.

 

My analytical side allowed my participation to be unbiased even though I had heard the owners’ personal experiences. The mist taking form remains unexplained. Robin captured two EVP’s. Gene did not capture unexplained differences in temperature, but verified the EMF readings on the wooden post near the furnace. A scientist like an investigator wants to deal with tangible evidence. However, the evidence collected appears to go beyond the current scope of science, logic and math. My personal experience prompts me to state that there is a realm that remains invisible to all of us, yet can choose to interact with us, or not. I feel that unbridled interaction with this realm can be potentially detrimental. Anyone or thing that will attempt to harm a baby has the ability to inflict harm on adults as well. Though my first investigation went well, the evidence captured is not conclusive or definitive. The scientist in me wants everything to be beyond a reasonable doubt. The accountant in me wants the phenomena to fit nice in charts, graphs and tables. However, maybe the best evidence is that which is randomly captured in an environment unknown to us in the course of our time in that environment. It will be this kind of evidence that will support and substantiate further investigations into the unknown.

“We dance round in a ring and suppose, but the secret sits in the middle and knows.” (Robert Frost)